Act and Not be Acted Upon and AAAAAAAA......P

July 18, 2017

Well I was gonna keep it top secret but looks like Elder Stones spilled the beans hahaha. I am now one of the assistants to President Nelson, my companion is Elder M from Bolivia, and we will be working in the Heyotlipan Ward! That's why I didn't write yesterday, we were greeting the new missionaries, saying goodbye to the old missionaries, and getting everything set up! Elder M is very hard working and he means business, lots to learn from him. This week my pday is Tuesday, but after today it will still be Monday. I am pretty nervous haha but also very excited! Yesterday we went to President Nelsons house (not even in the misión boundaries) with the missionaries who are heading out (Elder P, my dad went home today). Lots of things should be very different now. 

This week we were able to baptise L and S, the two girls in the picture, and their parents are going to get married in August so that they can get baptised too. Such a great family! The dad works everyday except for Sundays, so it's hard to teach him, but he has been reading the Book of Mormon on his own time, and he told us yesterday that he can now say he knows the Book of Mormon is true because it answers his questions when he reads it. It was very sad to say goodbye to them, even though I was only in the Ward for 6 weeks, I feel a lot of love for them. Pretty powerful. Elder A also had changes, so two new missionaries are there now, Otto Comins boy Elder Allen is one of them! I honestly feel very happy about the work we did in Amalucan. It was known to be one of the hardest wards and zones in the misión, with the smallest area to proselyte, but we didn't listen to what they said and just worked hard! Big lesson there. Also the zone is leading the whole misión right now in baptisms in July! 

The culture of the misión here is changing and I am loving it! Should be a very crazy few months here!

Great to hear about everyone getting married though!

Love you all, 

Elder Lethaby

July 24, 2017

It has been a very weird, crazy week. 

We prepared and gave over 8 hours of training this week, went to the Noche de Salientes (not sure how to say that in English) which was in Presidents house which is very nice and not in the mission boundaries, and I learned a lot of things that we do here that I never even thought about who prepared all that stuff before. It's honestly a lot of fun though! I got to see every one of my companions from my whole mission this week and they are all doing great! Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing anything because we have just been in the office doing things on computers every day, but we have also had a lot of fun, and spiritual experiences. 

That's a lot of things that I didn't expect! Congrats Lance! And Niki (Tagg) and Shane (Cuckow)! And everyone! 

Sounds like things are going good though.

From what Elder Al and S are saying, the fam we baptised last week is going good, they get along with them just as well as we did! 

The white shirts are a miracle (his shirts still look white!)! And now we have a real washing machine and everything! Like the kind where you just push buttons. We also have a lot of cockroaches in our house though :(

I think the main thing I am learning here so far is how to be autosuficient (spanglish?). I still have my companion, but now there isn't a senior or junior companion, there's no district leader to call, and president is a very busy man haha, so I am learning to think for myself. I think before the mission and on the mission we often have a lot of questions like, do I have to talk to my bishop about that? Or does that count as a new investigator? Or is it ok to see that movie? We always want someone else to draw the line for us, we always want an answer of yes or no, and in this process we stop taking advantage of our personal agency. We honestly just have to think about what is the will of the Father in these situations, and do it! We have to get to the point where we think in the same way that the Father thinks, and then the answers will be clear. It's something we are trying to teach in the mission, like I shared in the scripture last week I think, we are to act, not be acted upon. (2 Nephi 2:26) I invite everyone to try to think in this way, to be independent but not selfish or prideful, but to be able to discern the good from the bad. 

That's what has been on my mind, hope it helps someone! 

Have a good week,

Love you all!

Elder Lethaby

Questions Answered:

What service did you give your companion this week?This morning I washed the dishes that they hadn't washed the whole week last week hahaha.

What have you learned to cook??:( oatmeal

Favourite scripture of the week?2 Nephi 2 26, are we people that act? That make things get done? Or just wait and let things happen and hope they're good things?

26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are  redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

What have you learned about your new Bishop, and how can you help him best? (Note: asked before we knew he was transferred)I can't help him much now hahaha because I'm not serving in his Ward now, but he seems to be organizing and training the leaders of the Ward more.

Did you get my letter with the stickers in it? Robyn Mulligan designed those, and sells them…also the patches.

Ya it just got here and they are really cool, Elder Barfuss was hyped too!

Will you travel to most parts of the mission with President Nelson?

Yup! In a few weeks we are just going to go to zone conferences all week with him, and sometimes if he wants to go on divisions with other Elders he will bring us along. 

What do you think of Sister Nelson?

She is one of the most impressive women I know. She does like 1000 sit ups every morning or something I heard, like literally. Has a hard time with the language, but everyone loves her a lot. Big fan. 

Scripture of the week?

2 Nefi 15: 25, and also the whole chapter. But I like this verse a lot because I was feeling kinda disappointed in myself this week but it helped me understand the atonement. 

 25 Therefore, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

What cheers you up when things don’t seem to be going the way they should?

This week we weren't able to teach a single lesson with investigators (we had appointments but had to cancel), so I was feeling a lot of that this week, like I'm working hard but I think now that my work has to be focused differently so it feels like I'm not doing much. The scripture above helped me a lot though. 

Strangest thing you saw this week?

The streets at 1:00 in the morning, that is a weird sight. 

Mom saw this sign…You can’t please everyone…you’re not an avocado! Hope you’ve learned to love them! Avocados I mean!

I love them a lot. :) 

Shout out to Sam Turner x 2 and Latino Jesus Picture

Hi Mom! :)

This week was good! We had the stake presidency come yesterday and they called a new bishop which I was kinda sad about because our bishop was a lot of fun, but it sounds like the members are all very happy. The new bishop is Bishop B who was the bishop 18 years ago for 8 years, and they called him again! The old bishop will be able to sit with his family for the first time now, because he has been in bishoprics since he got married! The new Bishop is very strict and he means business which is good news as missionaries!

ALSO turns out Sam Turner served in this ward (Amalucan), found his name in the area book after a less active member asked me if I knew him. Ask him if he remembers Zenif Sanchez! Pretty cool to think about that. The second time someone has asked me if I knew him in my mission. 

This week the girls of the R family are gonna get baptized! L (13) has been going to the youth conference dance rehearsals like 5 times every week and they are both excited! Mom is gonna go try to get married this week too, so she should be coming up quick. Dad is progressing slower because he's only home on Sundays, but he's supportive. We went to eat breakfast with them today, and I shared the maple syrup you sent mom! Big fans. Chocolate pancakes too! They are a very special family, who are following what the spirit has told them even with opposition from other family members. Mom has told us many times that she considers us part of her family :) Her 20 year old son passed away a year ago today, and she was so happy when we taught about the plan of salvation :) Good memories there. 

I loved what you wrote mom, that's very true that lots of times we are super cold in the church. Yesterday, in a meeting with the ward mission leaders of the stake, one brother talked about that, how the bishop, the missionaries, and the ward mission leader should always be at the door greeting everyone to set the example, but you can and should do it too! The whole ward should be like ushers haha.

Good week, still big fan of the mighty Amalucan ward. 

Love you guys lots, thanks for your prayers!

Elder Lethaby

Questions answered:

Do you need new music sent to you?

No we can download the music from the offices of the mission and my current companion was a secretary before so he has it all!

Thanks for the pics of your comp…but I thought you wanted one of you together!

I will try harder this week, camera is dead right now but, I will start don't worry!

Have you taken pictures of each of your apartments? Curious minds want to know!

This one still no, but the other two yes. 

Ever have water issues? Shower, drinking, rain?

No not really, just sometimes we run out of gas so we have to take cold showers. 

Do you ever use music when you teach? It can really bring the Spirit.

With Elder Navas we did a lot, Elder Andazola sings real good so we should get into it. We have been showing more videos though and last night the video brought tears to the whole family! Mountains to climb is the video ( https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-003-mountains-to-climb?lang=eng ) 

Any advise to give those missionaries that will be heading out in the next couple of months?

Advice: Invite friends to church with you, it's not hard at all when you're at home and you will wish you had done it later. 

my comp with the painting of Jesus with a claw hand, scary eyes, and a laser beam

“EL ESTANDARTE DE LIDERAZGO A LA MANERA DEL SEÑOR”

“En memoria de nuestros llamamientos sagrados de servir a Jesucristo, y nuestras familias del pasado, presente y futuro, y las promesas proféticas a nuestros hermanos de esta tierra prometida.”

“Como líderes de la Misión Mexico Puebla Norte, hacemos convenio con nuestro Dios de que seremos ejemplos a todos nuestros hermanos y hermanas al obedecer con exactitud por las razones correctas, olvidándonos de nosotros mismos, y consagrando nuestra vida al Señor ahora y para siempre. Estamos comprometidos a aceptar lo que merezcamos cuando rindamos cuentas al Señor.”

"THE STANDARD OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WAY OF THE LORD"

"In memory of our sacred calls to serve Jesus Christ, and our families of the past, present and future, and the prophetic promises to our brethren of this promised land."



"As leaders of the Mexico Puebla Norte Mission, we make a covenant with our God that we will be examples to all our brothers and sisters by obeying accurately for the right reasons, forgetting ourselves, and consecrating our life to the Lord now and forever. We are committed to accepting what we deserve when we are accountable to the Lord. " 

A Very Weird Experience

June 26th, 2017
Hey!

This week was very weird because we had intercambios 2 times, interviews with President Nelson, I went to 2 district meetings, and worked with my companion only 2 days in the whole week. Good stuff though. On Tuesday I went to the mountains (Tlachichuca) with Elder S (my son) and got to work with him. He has a lot more confidence than he did before which is great to see, he teaches exactly how I taught when I was with him and he told me I changed a lot hahaha. I think what changed is that I love the people now. I thought I did before but I also thought about how they were going to help me, not how I was gonna help them. Probs the prettiest area in the mission, but very far away. 

On Thursday I got to work with Elder N again. He has also changed but not that much. We got really wet but also had a super spiritual experience with a sister whose son got home early from his mission for health problems one day before. We talked about the atonement, and testified that HF is very happy with her and her son. Honestly have missed those two lots! 

Getting along great with companion even though we still don't have pics together. He's a lot like Ben Palmer, like he has glasses and tells the same kind of jokes that I have to think about a lot. 

I know that Jesus Christ is my Saviour! 

Love the mission. 

Elder Lethaby

Prettiest Area

July 3, 2017

Hey this week was good!  Very weird experience:

The couple we found 4 weeks ago that want to get sealed got back from their trip but the bf was supposed to be like with the marines for 4 months so when he showed up we were very surprised. The story is that something happened with his mind and he forgot the last 7 years of his life. He didn't remember us, his girlfriend, his son, his tattoos, everything that happened in the last 7 years. Super weird but also can't remember why he stopped going to church which is good haha. He is pretty depressed though because of that. So we were teaching them yesterday and we were focusing more on the gf at first but I realised he wasn't ok, and we changed the topic completely and focused on him. He opened up a ton and shared with us all of his feelings. I felt a very specific prompting to be kinda bold and tell him he had to stop focusing on himself and serve others. It was cool because I think that has been the greatest change in me in my mission up to this point, so I could really testify of it. The spirit was so strong, they trust us more now, and the gf accepted to be baptised! Just gotta love them! AND he wants to prepare himself to baptise her! 

A bit more time in our area this week, lots of miracles in the zone with areas that had had a lot of struggles, that finally got people to church! 

Trying to do things differently a lot here, and the bishop recognised it in his talk at church this week about how the missionaries have started to change things, and they need to follow! Great ward though, we are going to have lots of baptisms I think!

Love the Lord, love you guys!

Elder Lethaby

Finally got a picture of his companion...just not together!

And Elder Lethaby's carnivore instincts are being satisfied...obviously!!

Respuestas:

If a good area means giving away 6 ties…does that mean you could use a few more?
I could always use more ties :) 

How rainy has it been? Up to your ankles rain like Elder Stones has mentioned?
Some days yes. I got to work with Elder Navas again this week and the street was flooded probably like 8 inches .

Have you had tres leche? One of the elders here was asking.
Like the cake? Ya that's like the only cake there is, but I'm not a fan honestly.

When have you felt loved this week?
When our family that's gonna get baptised told us we are part of their family and invited us to go eat breakfast with them today for our pday. 

How do you do laundry in this new area?
WE HAVE A WASHING MACHINE IN OUR HOUSE! It's a pretty cheap one but it works.

Have you been close to the volcano yet in any of your areas or exchanges?
Yup in my first area!

How do your shoes hold up in the rain?
Pretty good still, the brown ones are holding up

Still have your umbrella? Shane went through a few.
No I'm now on number 2

Did you celebrate Canada day in a small way?
Used my Canada day tie (even though a bird pooed on it) and called Elder Barfuss and he invited me to eat poutine but I couldn't go.

English classes? Or harder to organise than you thought? You will need the help of the members, as one on one is important when learning to converse, so you break out into smaller groups and work with the students. I’ve had spiritual experiences in class when we bear testimony of family, or freedom, etc. One student said she felt goosebumps when we talked.
They're going good, this week the bishop talked about how we have to work differently as a ward and used that as an example, so hoping more go this week. 

Best moment of the week?
Stay tuned for big email. 

Best advise from your mission pres?
Mmmm use bug spray and drink water. Wise man, also used to be a doc.